ToraHime
by Chicken Parmesan
Summary: When the princess falls in love with the tiger, sparks will fly. Sumire is struggling to keep her feelings in check, certain her love will never be returned, but Teru isn't making it any easier on her. She's not deliberately tempting her... is she? Sumire x Teru.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

The windows to the mahjong club's room were open, and the curtains gently billowed in the summer breeze. Clouds like cotton bloomed against a vivid blue sky.

Sumire leaned back, stretching her arms, and let out a satisfied sigh. There were no club activities today, so the only ones present were herself and Teru. One way or another the two of them seemed to end up in the clubroom together no matter what day it was.

Most days, like today, Sumire had some duty to perform for the club. Today she was filling out a document to notify the school of their next training camp.

Teru often didn't do anything at all, sitting in a corner at the back of the clubroom. Sometimes she'd be playing a game of mahjong alone, circling the board and moving for all the players. Sometimes she'd read, and sometimes she'd sleep. Today she was simply watching the sky out the window.

Sumire liked these days, when it was just the two of them, enjoying a companionable silence on a warm summer day. The juniors called them _ToraHime_ , because they were always together and their skills complemented each other. Teru was supposed to be the _Tora_ (Tiger) and she was supposed to be the _Hime_ (Princess.) She protested that name, practically begged them to drop it, but secretly she liked it, if only because they were associating her with Teru.

"Are you done?"

Teru's clear voice rang out in the empty clubroom, interrupting her thoughts.

"Mmm, yeah, I finally finished."

"Are you going to head home?"

"I'll stay awhile longer."

Teru nodded, and returned to staring out the window. Her eyes were fixed far away, somewhere in the sky.

Sumire liked these days, but sometimes when she was alone with Teru it hurt a little bit too. When they were together Teru always looked at the mahjong tiles, or at the sky, with such intensity.

The only thing Sumire looked at with that intensity was Teru. And no matter how much she secretly hoped deep down in hidden parts of her heart, no matter what happened in her best dreams she never told anyone about, Teru never, ever looked back at her.

 _I wish she'd look at me._

.:::::.

Writer's Note: A bit of a heavy start, but I'm just setting the scene. Chapter one will be more lighthearted, and will contain some very fun scenes. Hang in there Sumire!


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

A high pitched screech emitted from the wheels of the train as it pulled into its station. On the platform outside, a group of high school girls were happily chattering. Summer vacation had begun, and the Shiraitodai mahjong club was leaving for a training camp. They were taking the train to an onsen in the countryside, a summer vacation that excited most of the members irrespective of mahjong.

The girls crowded the entrance as soon as the train's doors slid open with a slick hiss, and snippets of loud conversation and peals of laughter could be heard as they boarded. Only two members, Sumire and Teru, hung back from the group, avoiding the crush. Sumire was lost in reverie, while Teru had her nose in a book, and was as inscrutable as always.

The subject of Sumire's thoughts, as she boarded the train, was none other than her friend who followed close behind.

 _Me... Teru... in a hot spring, wearing nothing but towels...wawawah... bad train of thought!_

Sumire felt a small pang of shame for fantasizing about her friend, though that emotion was minor next to the torrent of happiness and dash of panic she had about the trip. She didn't know if she was mentally prepared for this.

Training. That's what this is about, yes. Training.

Sumire sighed. She worked seriously for the sake of the club, and the opportunities the upcoming week presented weren't lost on her. Their loss to Achiga in the regional finals were a huge shock. They needed to improve if they wanted to win the nationals this year, and while Teru might be the head of the club, the responsibility usually fell to Sumire to organize their training. She couldn't let her feelings for Teru distract her during the next week.

While she was lost in thought, most of the girls had taken seats already. The seats on the train were narrow, and in the near empty car many of them had taken seats apart from each other, near the front of the train. They leaned across the aisle and chatted happily as Sumire squeezed past.

She wanted to take a seat farther back, where she could organize her thoughts in peace. Sumire was now seriously thinking about mahjong, and what improvements needed to be made during this trip.  
She was, in fact, so thoroughly lost in thought that she failed to notice Teru finally boarding the train. Several girls called out to Teru, asking the team's ace to come sit with them, but she politely declined, gesturing toward the book in her hand, and moved toward the back of the train car.

It was then Sumire noticed her friend coming down the aisle, and assumed she was going to the very back, to continue reading in peace. To her surprise, however, Teru stopped when she reached her row.

"May I?"

Teru gestured toward the seat next to her.

"S-Sure."

Sumire was nearly too surprised to say anything. There were plenty of empty seats on the train, so why?

Teru sat down gracefully, without looking up from her book. As she did, her arms and legs brushed against Sumire's, forced together by the narrow seats.

 _Too close!_

The contact didn't seem to bother Teru, who seemed as calm as ever as she turned the page of her novel. She looked relaxed, even bored. Sumire, on the other hand, was stiff as a board and rapidly approaching a state of internal panic.

It was moments like this that Sumire wished she knew what her friend was thinking. Teru had an inscrutable face. With her mirror she could see into the depths of someone's heart, but she didn't easily let anyone see into her own.

There were many questions she wanted to ask her. Many things she wanted to tell her. Maybe on this trip she could.

Teru shifted in her seat, in a way that seemed to bring the two of them closer together. Sumire sighed and tried to relax. Teru didn't realize what she was doing, surely.

Sumire closed her eyes tightly, and felt a blush rising in her cheeks.

 _I hope Teru doesn't look up right now._

Her train of thought was interrupted by the feeling of something soft falling against her shoulder. It took her a moment to process what it was.

Teru had fallen asleep... and her head had fallen on her shoulder.

 _E-e-e-ehhhhhh?!_

Sumire was jolted out of her train of thought. She sat stiffly, straight up and her face was beat red. It felt like alarm bells were ringing in her head.

 _Keep calm._

She took a deep breath.

Self control. Self control was important.

Too bad she was losing hers.

"Nn."

Teru made a small noise and shifted slightly in her seat.

 _She's too cute!_

The rest of the group continued on their conversation, impervious to the heaven and hell she was experiencing.

Eventually she was able to relax. There was nothing she could do, however, to calm her beating heart. These emotions were hers, and only Teru could evoke them like this.  
Well, at least I got to see her sleeping face.

.:::::.

With her eyes fixed on Teru, it was almost surprising how fast the trip passed. Before she knew it the time had gone and the train had begun to pull into the station.

She wasn't sure what to do, but fortunately Teru seemed to wake up just as the train came to a stop.  
Teru blinked her eyes and blearily lifted herself off her shoulder.

"Excuse me."

Sumire jumped up quickly, and dashed past Teru into the aisle. She hoped Teru didn't see how hard she was blushing. She could still feel Teru's warmth on her neck and shoulder as she dashed out the door of the train. She was so preoccupied she nearly ran into Awai and Seiko, who were chatting as they disembarked.

Her torrent of emotions must have been showing on her face in some way, because Awai was looking at her curiously.

"Teru fell asleep on my shoulder."

Awai and Seiko glanced at each other, before they both burst out laughing. Sumire's blush only deepened.

.:::::.

As Teru woke up, her first sensation was her face pressed against something soft and warm. She slightly shifted her head, adjusting her position on this comfortable pillow.

She hadn't slept well recently, and felt refreshed for the first time in a long while. She yawned and slowly lifted her head, only to realize the comfortable thing she'd been using as a pillow was... Sumire's shoulder.

Before she could process that information, Sumire jumped up, and quickly moved past her into the aisle. She mumbled something, but Teru didn't catch it.

For a moment Teru was worried she'd made her mad, but as Sumire walked away her hair flew back for a moment, exposing a bright red blush on her cheeks. The sight was enough to make a light blush appear even on Teru's normally expressionless face. It was a sight that would have surprised any of her teammates, but Sumire didn't look back and the others were already disembarking.

Teru carefully put her book away, her movements as slow and methodological as always, and smiled to herself.

This was going to be a good trip.

.:::::.

Writer's Note: Thank you so much to the three people who left reviews. You motivated me to write this chapter, even though my life is very busy and this was difficult to write. I'll try to get the next chapter done quickly. Look forward to it; now that we've arrived at the hot spring, there are some very fun scenes coming up.


End file.
